Poetry In His Thoughts
by Oceans in Hand
Summary: Series of LinkAllenLink drabbles, named for the first one. Varying themes and ratings, some AU, some sneaking in other pairings. Warnings at the top of each chapter.
1. Poetry In His Thoughts

**No warnings.**

**I seem to be making it my mission to fatten up the Link/Allen fandom :)**

Link had known he was attracted to Allen for a fair long time. Yes, it _had_ taken him somewhat by surprise- he'd never felt himself drawn to another man before- but, with his analytical mind, it didn't take very long for him to understand why.

Allen Walker _was _handsome, handsome as a woman would be. His stature was too slim, too lean for him to leave an impression of masculinity on very many, but his coloring was intriguing. How many people on the whole Earth could have such striking silver eyes? That white hair, like the clouds on a clear day…

Look now, poetry in his thoughts. How unusual.


	2. Freak On A Leash

**No warnings for this one.**

**1/10 in the Shuffle meme : )**

**Freak On A Leash - Korn**

Allen tugs piteously at the length of chain that keeps him next to the cold stone wall. It's not very long at all, he can't even move an arm's length away. This is especially annoying, because of the artic temperatures of the wall.

Link still tends to his stalker duties, following him around- or, he's not going anywhere, is he?- sitting and watching him. Sometimes he brings more paperwork- sometimes there's some for Allen, too- sometimes it's news about a friend or the outcome of recent missions. Usually it's a book, that he reads out loud while sitting in front of the leashed Exorcist, or standing and leaning into the rough stone beside him.

Today it's a book about a dog named Frou-Frou. Allen thinks this name is fairly ridiculous, but doesn't say anything because it'd be just his luck that the book means something to the inspector, and he really enjoys his company too much.


	3. Where the Green Grass Grows

**No warnings.**

**2/10 on the shuffle meme. I groaned when a country song popped up, I think my Cherry was punishing me for dropping it.**

**Where the Green Grass Grows – Tim McGraw**

Allen strokes his fingers through the long grass, smiling and marveling at the soft texture and the fresh smell that rises from the ground. It rained recently, and Link must be in a foul mood, because he's whining about his bottom getting wet, and he just _can't_ understand how Allen can stand to lie back in the wet foliage. The teenager snorts at him and reminds him that it last rained two days ago. All of the moisture is in the soil by now, and lying on his back means that when he stands up, he'll probably be dryer than the inspector.

Link takes this with a scowl, and ignores him to stare accusingly at the corn field about six feet in front of them. Allen's hand gropes for a stick and tosses it at his head.


	4. Thank You Fallettin Me Be Myself

**Warning! There's a pretty heavy spoiler for recent chapters in this one.**

**3/10 on the shuffle meme.**

**Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Myself) – Sly & the Family Stone**

Link is pacing back and forth, his hands clasped so tightly behind his back that his fingers are white with the strain. His boots make loud, solid noises against the stone floor, and Allen looks up from the toy puzzle in his hands.

He studies Link for a moment, until the inspector glances at him and sneers.

"I can't stand it," He finally growls, his pacing getting faster. "How can they believe such things are acceptable? Combining humans and Akuma to make _weapons! _It's disgusting."

"Despicable," Allen agrees, trying very hard to restrain his smile. These little spills have been occurring with increasing frequency. Link was the perfect worker- but he had a conscience. The young Exorcist wondered how much more his organization would push him before he renounced them or broke in some way. Allen didn't think his stalker was the type to bend, much.

"And Madarao, going along with it all. That's worse than anything!" He falters. "Why…?"


	5. Whisper

**Warning! This one makes absolutely no sense : P**

**4/10 on the shuffle meme.**

**Whisper – Evanescence**

Link glares at the smaller Exorcist and leans down to hiss at him, "Why on Earth are you whispering, Walker?"

Allen's eyes are wide, impossibly wide for some reason. "I-" And his voice cracks, before he can say anymore.

The inspector's brow furrows and his expression lightens, instead becoming something closer to concern. "What? What's wrong?"

The Exorcist is pressed as far back into the corner of the room has he can be, his knees pulled up to and held tightly against his chest. His chin is tucked behind them, his face pointed down. Link has been forced to fall to his knees to look the mysteriously frightened teenager in the eye. He puts his hands on either of the boy's arms before he can think about it, giving him a little shake.

"Walk-…Allen, tell me what's wrong." He asks, most of his usual impatience gone from his voice.

Silver eyes that are still too wide catch his, and Allen begs, "Don't turn out the lights, please. Don't close your eyes."

The inspector's lips part; he is puzzled. "Wha-…? Don't close my…?"


	6. On Your Shore

**No warnings. AU.**

**5/10 on the shuffle meme. I luvvv this song!**

**On Your Shore – Charlotte Martin**

The man is thin, but his clothing is soaked through with sea water. This must be what makes him so heavy, Allen thinks as he struggles to drag the stranger into his little home by the shore.

He hangs the clothes to dry before a small fire, and starts to wash the salt off the man's body with a rag when he shoots up with a cry. The teenager gives a startled shout, just as loud as he falls back off his stool and hits the cobbled floor.

The man is blinking furiously, but when he sees the younger man rubbing his tailbone, he pushes himself up from the thin mattress and does his best to haul the other onto the bed beside him.

"I'm sorry," he says, dusting off the teenager's clothing. Allen smiling waveringly at him and blocks his hands; his clothing is so filthy already, the gesture is useless.

"It's alright," he reassures him. "You just surprised me, is all."


	7. Walking into Battle with the Lord

**No warnings.**

**6/10 on the shuffle meme. **

**Walking into Battle with the Lord - Chumbawamba**

Allen does his best to ignore the puddling gore beneath his boots as he fights, fights, fights. It's difficult, because he's slipping in it, and the Level 3 in front of him is positively exploding with joy. It's pushing him back, but that doesn't work- he can't go backwards, only forwards.

Link is behind him, crumpled at the foot of the wall and watching the struggle over him with an expression that suggests he doesn't really think it's real. Blood pumps slowly, steadily from a wound in his stomach, and he doesn't have the energy to press on it anymore.


	8. We'll Meet Again

**Warnings for heavy(ish? not really) spoilers for...err, _rather_ recent chapters. **

**7/10 on the shuffle meme. This song I don't like : / Axed when I was done with the meme.**

**We'll Meet Again – Vera Lynn (Owl Teim Mix)**

Sirens are screaming but that doesn't stop the science team from talking over them. There is nothing but confusion and panic, and the Finders and team members seem to be having trouble remembering the evacuation drill. The Exorcists have got it together- they always do, that's their job- but they're too few to make much of a difference. It's like a squirrel trying to herd a head of cattle into a funnel- it's not working.

Allen is in the center of it all, laughing. But it's not Allen- anyone who passes close enough to feel the aura of bloodlust, killing intent, to see the muddled expression of mixed joy, anger, grief, surprise- knows.

This is not Allen.

Allen is kind and sweet, he is gentle and is _not _the type of person to be a warrior for God, so why is he?

Link doesn't know what to do, he hasn't for a long time, not since the 14th began showing up. He stands, silent, solid, and calm has he can make himself, behind his charge, watching and waiting.


	9. My Friends

**No warnings.**

**8/10 on the shuffle meme. Almost done!**

**My Friends – Sweeney Todd**

Allen watches as a solemn Link cleans black Akuma blood from his strange razor-knives. The inspector is stationed at the desk in the Exorcist's room. Open before him is a small, beaten and dinted tin of, Allen assumes, some kind of polish or cleaner. He's using a bright, bloody red rag to spread the contents of the tin over his blades; the irony is not lost on the teenager.

He's seated, cross-legged, on his bed, leaning forward slightly over the forgotten book in his lap as his eyes follow the older man's hands and that damned rag with an intensity that could raise questions. But he can't help himself, and he doesn't really want to try.


	10. Dani California

**No warnings.**

**9/10 on the shuffle meme.**

**Dani California – Red Hot Chili Peppers**

Allen is enjoying himself, bouncing to the thumping beat that Lavi is pulling from the strange instrument in his lap. Lenalee has an arm thrown over his and Kanda's shoulders, she's between them and is laughing while she sings a song that breathes happiness in Chinese. The long-haired swordsman took a while to crack, but eventually he was persuaded to play a small, wooden flute.

Link is seated beside Allen, dourly reading a book and looking somewhat irritated. The Exorcist next to him scowls, pulls the bookmark from the man's fingers and drops it into the pages. He nudges him with his hip.

"Stop reading," he says insistently, somewhat growling but mostly not. "Enjoy the music, stay with us, please."

The inspector gives him a pinched-face look, and the teenager is fairly sure that if he had glasses, he'd be pushing them up his nose right now. "I do not enjoy music." He says in that flat voice of his.

Allen raises one silver-gray eyebrow, and looks down at the inspector's foot with an amused expression. "Oh, really?"

It was tapping.


	11. The Things We Do for Love

**Warning for minor spoilers for not-so-recent chapters.**

**10/10 on the shuffle meme. Done! Yay! :D**

**The Things We Do for Love – 10cc**

Link is burdened. He trips and stumbles because of the weight on his back as he walks, drunkenly, but with determination, away from the boat that had deposited them on the shore. The new Black Order headquarters was now separated from them by a long expanse of ominous, unfriendly water, but he didn't kid himself- that wouldn't stop them.

Allen was limp against his back, his body flush against the inspector and his lolling chin on the blonde man's shoulder. He turns his head to press his forehead to Link's jaw, whining lowly. The drug that had kept him immobile since his Noah persona had made itself known was still in his system. From what the inspector had gotten from him in small, random bouts of lucidity, the medicine caused pain.


	12. Nearly Bit His Tongue Off

**Warnings for graphic smut. How grapic can a drabble be? **

**Had this for a while. What I didn't have was a place to put it.**

Allen licked the tip of Link's penis, tasting salty, stabbing flavor of the liquid it leaked. Humming happily, he rubbed his cheek against the organ, fingers moving like spider legs up the other side.

Link bucked his hips up, not quite happy with the teasing. He continued to display his discontent by running his tongue from Allen's balls to his ass in his own maddening way.

Allen's back bowed, and his fingers clenched reflexively as he whined quietly. The walls weren't very thick.

The man lying under him smirked. He took his partner's hips in a firm hold that booked no protest and, tugging him closer, stabbed his tongue past tight muscle. Spreading the teenager's asscheeks apart, he delighted in the choking sound that came from around his knees. He chuckled.

Allen, panting, moving, seeing white, heard it. Moving slowly- partly so Link didn't catch onto him, partly because he was finding difficult to do more than simply feel- he steadied the cock beneath his face, and swallowed it in a swift, hard move.

Link nearly bit his tongue off.


	13. It Feels Nice

**No warnings. **

**Written to Fate by Bleak feat. Ana Johnsson, a very nice song.**

Link trails a hand down Allen's back, watching the Exorcist's motionless body with a look of agonized concern. The battle has been over for hours, but the teenager has yet to wake.

The inspector's book is on his knee, the limb acting as a bookmark. There is a half empty cup of coffee on the table beside Allen's bed, and Link turns his stare onto it. His hand strokes down the teenager's spine lightly.

Allen shifts beneath his hand, and as the blonde man's eyes land on the back of his head, his face turns into view, and his lips part with a dry noise.

"Hi, Link," he rasps, smiling gently.

The inspector's hand is on the teenager's tailbone, just above his backside. Link shoots the appendage a fearful glance and stutters "It's not-"

Allen's arm moves and interrupts the retreat. His grip is somehow strong and feeble at the same time, and Link's mouth goes dry. From what, he really has no clue.

"Please don't stop," The Exorcist sighs, closing his eyes and seeming to melt into the mattress. A certain aura of bonelessness is there. "It feels nice."


	14. Something in the Air

**Warning for language. Kanda's mouth. What can you do?**

**Written to Love Train by The O'jays.**

Link is sitting next to Allen on the train, a book open before him and him doing his damndest to ignore the flirting going on across the compartment from him.

"Oh Yuu, but it's so soft and pretty! How can you expect me to keep my hands off of it?"

The swordsman is crushed against the side of the seat, one hand tight around the hilt of his Mugen and a snarl curling his lip. Lavi is leaning forward onto one arm, cooing after the Japanese.

"Very easily." The besieged man growls. "Don't touch my _hair, _you fucking rabbit_._"

The seat shakes a little from Allen's stifled laughter. Link rolls his eyes as he flips to the next page. He feels a wash of warmth on his side as the younger man bends close, bring his lips near enough to whisper into the inspector's ear.

"I'm surprised Lavi's still alive. It must be something in the air on the train."

Link's body trembles with a sudden shiver, and he barely manages to bit back a gasp when Allen's hand gives his biceps a quick squeeze.

Must be it; something in the air.


	15. Like a Rising Tide

**No warnings.**

**Oooh, bad Allen. Written to Can't Stop Feeling by Franz Ferdinand. Also, saw Dead Poets Society recently, can you tell? He _yawped _xD**

Allen is arching up beneath the fallen inspector; his hands have come up to hold onto his lapels, and he's dragging his tongue up his captive's throat. Link, who had previously been trying to wiggle free, freezes and chokes at the touch of that hot, wet muscle. He pulls back just enough to throw a bemused look at the teenager beneath him; he wants to scream. He wants to shout and rage, but they're in the _middle of the Science Department._ "What the f- on Earth was that?!" He whispers furiously.

Allen's eyes roll up to look at him through pale lashes, smoldering. "For once," he says back just as quietly, only there's a _heat_ in his voice like what Link is flinching from in his eyes. "I don't mind being smaller than you,"

The inspector bites back another curse as the Exorcist nips at the point of his chin, and an agitated Reever's yawp breaks messily through the monotonous conversation of the Science Department. Allen jumps at the sudden cry, despite the fact that it addresses neither of them. Link uses the opportunity to break the teenager's loosened grip and surges to his feet like a rising tide.


	16. No Idea

**No warnings.**

**Inspired by Kiss with a Fist by Florence and the Machine. What a song! Would like to know what the artist was thinking of while writing _that!_**

Allen isn't sure what exactly _started _the fight, but with one of Link's hand tightened painfully on his shoulder and his other reaching back, he doesn't really think it matters. The smaller Exorcist wiggles and bucks, part of his body trapped beneath the Inspector's weight. He's laughing and smiling wildly, and Link's got this squint to his eyebrows like he's trying not to join him.

He gasps for breath, having just dodged the other's punch, and asks, "What are we doing?" Then he rolls them over when Link's grip slackens.

The Inspector makes a noise like an _oof _when Allen's weight settles over his pelvic area, pressing his tailbone into the unyielding stone of the floor, and shrugs as best as he can with one of the teenager's forearm's limiting his air supply. "No idea."


	17. Band of Thieves: 1

**No warnings. AU.**

**Recently I watched a Chinese movie called _A World Without Thieves. _The title Cross is first referred to is a nod to the film, as well as the general idea behind this ficlet. If you're interested, the movie is hosted on dramacrazy dot net.**

Allen flips a slender razor up and down, along his fingers in a few quick motions. Tumbling over his ring finger, the edge of the blade nicks his skin and he can't help the wince that comes.

A rolled up newspaper slaps the back of his head and, while the blow is solid and sure as hell felt, the noise is worse. The teenager half-heartedly glares up at the taller man who is at that moment regarding him with a similar expression.

"I can't believe Uncle Marion actually recruited you," He gripes. "You're so wet behind the ears that-"

There was a loud _crack_, and Allen hurries to stifle his laughter as Link seizes up. The masterthief's bamboo cane is flat across the other man's shoulders.

"That what?" He growls. The cigarette pinched between his lips swings as he speaks, and Allen's eyes are dancing with mirth where Cross Marion can't see them.

Link's lip curls in a sneer, and in a flash the expression is gone. "Uh, n-nothing, sir."


	18. Band of Thieves: 2

**No warnings. AU.**

**Band of Thieves: 2. Continuation (I guess) of chapter 17.**

Kanda can't stand the new guy. They argue like cats and dogs whenever they're forced into close quarters, and when the day comes- or the night, to be clearer- that the rookies of Uncle Marion's crew are left to split two hotel rooms, there is no argument. Kanda disappears into the first room behind a chortling redhead after a last glare at Allen who, holding the door that Link has thrown open, receives it with a grin full of teeth.

But the truth is, Link isn't so fond of the teenager either; more weary. Watchful. However clumsy Allen Walker had been with a razor when he first arrived, he learned fast- so fast that no one questioned Uncle Marion about his recruitment anymore. The teenager's fingers were quick and nimble, and his eyes just as so. Link and the rest of the rookies still held experience over him- forget the rest of the crew. But, apart from that…

Link is paranoid about his position and his importance to Uncle Marion; that goes with the territory. Dog eat dog. Survival of the fittest. Etcetera, etcetera. Rolling over and preparing for sleep that night, in the twin bed closest to the windows, he casts a look over his shoulder at the newbie's blanketed form and resolves to keep an eye out for him.


	19. And Possible Infections

**No warnings.**

**Dunno what inspiried this one : /**

Link and Allen were driven into the sewers. With Allen's injury and Link's lack of Innocence, the surprise level four easily overwhelmed them. The finder had been eaten- which was what had alerted them to the monster's presence in the first place- but Fom's equipment worked just as well without him. After searching for a signal for half the night, Link sent a call for assistance to the Order. A reply hadn't come yet, but that wasn't anything to worry about.

Allen was laid out on a makeshift pallet of their jackets. The sewer was hot with the heat from decomposing muck piled along the sides of the waterway, and the gag-worthy smell was no doubt locked forever in their clothes. Link relented after so many hours had passed and unbuttoned his shirt; he didn't notice that his undershirt was just as damp from perspiration. Any other time, this would have been dully noted with a grimace of distaste. Now though, he is primarily concerned with thoughts of the heat and filth, the clean slice across Allen Walker's middle, and possible infections.


	20. You're Gonna Be Okay

**Warning for one "F" word. That's it.**

**Inspiried by Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel by Barenaked Ladies. Lovely song. I wish to add that I live off of a very bad curve, and my family and our neighbors deal with wrecks all the time T_T We're pros.**

Allen's neck is killing him, and he's not entirely sure why. There's a bright, fucking _bright_ light shining in his eyes and then there's this…really…annoying sound…

Wait. That's a siren. And his eyes are finally registering- because the idiot with the industrial strength flashlight has moved the beam away from his face- glass and- is that blood? All over the ground…

"Why am I hanging upside down?" He asks the idiot.

The man startles, and the light jumps with the rest of him. He kneels down, bends his neck in an unlikely angle and holds the…window? for balance.

"Because you were wearing your seatbelt like a good teenager,"

"Bwah?"

The man's- he's probably about four or five years older than seventeen year-old Allen- face is grim, and his eyes are very, very serious. "I'm a volunteer cop kid, don't move. Someone called 911 and the paramedics are on their way now."

Allen stops fidgeting against his better judgment. That throbbing in his head can't be good; will his skull pop or something if too much blood drains into it? Wait, that makes him sound like a kitchen sink or something…

"Paramedics? What the hell is going on…"

The man gives him a 'are you stupid?' look as he huffs shortly. "You just survived a bad car accident," _Moron_ goes unsaid, but it's still heard.

"Oh." He says. It's not really hit him yet. He feels dizzy, and now his chest hurts like hell.

The man's face softens just a bit. "What's your name?"

"Um, Allen Walker."

"I'm Howard Link. You're gonna be okay, Allen."


	21. The Ball Down the Field

**No Warnings. AU.**

**I was thinking of All American Girl by Carrie Underwood (guilty pleasure) and She's the Man, the movie while writing this :)**

Kanda notices that Link is staring off, up into the bleachers and follows his train of sight. When he realizes that number 11's eyes are focused on that annoying beansprout from his Spanish 3, he slaps the back of his teammate's head with a growl.

"You moron, we're in the middle of practice. Pay attention!"

Link frowns at him unhappily as he rubs the back of his head. "The ball's on the other side of the field. And what the hell are you doing over here, on my side? You're right D. Go away."

Kanda smirks before turning away, repeating his own words back to him. "The ball's on the other side of the field."

Link sneers at him. He pivots on a 90º angle, glances to reaffirm the distance of the ball from his goal, and looks back up to that curious sophomore nearly hidden in the shadows beside the announcer's booth. What was Allen Walker doing up there during the soccer team's practice? He wasn't on the team and as far as Link knew, he wasn't acquainted with anyone who was…Well, there was Kanda, but that was only because both teenagers were so close to Lenalee Lee.

Link has a last, brief moment to wonder how he knew that before the one of the skins' mid-fielders blasts the ball down the field.


	22. Band of Thieves: 3

**No Warnings. AU.**

**Thieves as 'wolves' and victims of theft as 'lambs' is also a steal from _A World Without Thieves_. Next chapter _di_-rectly follows this one :)**

Link was walking down the sidewalk at eight o'clock in the morning, the new guy at his heels. An elder crew member had tipped them both off of their mattresses at first light, relating that Uncle Marion had decided Allen was ready for a trial in the field, and that he wanted Link to take him. Link was, unsurprisingly, not happy, and his quick stride bellied that distemper. Allen had to force an irregular pace to keep up.

Suits and office workers passed by at speeds just a fast or faster, tempting the pair of wolves with padded pockets on all sides. Allen watched with a small smirk as Link's fingers flashed in and out of jacket pockets and brief cases; he wasn't coming up with much though. Allen could do better.

He spotted a lamb across the street they were about to cross. A harried looking man juggling a slipping laptop bag strap, a cell phone, and the coffee and breakfast pastry a vendor was handing him.

And his wallet. Which silver eyes tracked to a wide open pocket.


	23. Band of Thieves: 4

**No warnings. AU.**

**FYI, Hublot's Black Caviar Bang at one million flat is the third most expensive watch of 2009, according to Luxois dot com. I looked it up.**

Allen tipped his chair back, balancing the considerable weight of the wrought iron piece on two legs. Link eyed him distastefully from across the table they had claimed outside a bustling café. A notebook the size of Allen's palm was being pushed back and forth, figures and comments scrawled over the page.

They were adding up the morning's takings, one victim at a time.

Allen grinned as he looked over what the other thief had just recorded: a wallet with two gold cards and two hundred cash inside. He scratched out his pull from the unfortunate businessman at the bagel stand- two gold, a platinum, and five hundred and two cash. Link raised his eyebrows at the two singles- and paused, catching site of Allen's utterly smug face. One eyebrow went down. The other climbed to new heights as the man, taking up the pen, wrote beneath Allen's last note. The rookie thief's eyes narrowed and he felt a tinge of worry when the corners of the other's mouth quirked, just the slightest bit, upwards.

His sense of foreboding only growing, he received the notebook that came skidding over the tabletop towards him and read.

Allen's eyes went round and he jerked his head up to direct an astonished look towards Link, who, without meeting his stare, casually pulled back his sleeve to check the time on a Black Caviar Bang.


	24. Conspiracy! They Chorus

**Know who Timothy is? Yes? No? Well, you don't really learn anything but his name anyway...And Kanda is perhaps a tad OOC.**

**Will..._most likely_ do something with this later.**

Lavi is a matchmaker.

He tells himself this as he watches Allen squabble with his watchdog at a table further along the cafeteria. He can't hear what they're arguing about, but he'd bet Kanda a haircut that it wasn't anything at all meaningful- and that neither of them entertained any illusions of it being so either.

They were a _picture _of Old Married Couple. It was kind of cute, actually.

Lavi elbows Lenalee, interrupting her conversation with aforementioned pissy Jap, and points the two out when she looks up.

One slim brow rises and her lips pucker in a small smile. "What about them?"

Lavi brings their faces closer together and grins wolfishly. "We should hook them up."

Kanda has overheard. He rolls his eyes and says, "The inspector would never. It's against too many rules to count."

Lavi copies Lenalee's eyebrow hitch. "Well…" he drawls, leaning in on a braced arm, "If Link won't do it, then-"

"Allen won't either," Lenalee frowns.

"…damn. Then…"

The three conspirators share a look and turn as one to the commotion at that door.

"Timothy." They chorus.


	25. Totally Natural

**No warnings.**

**O_O This one got...kind of long...um, let's call it a ficlet instead of a drabble...**

The battle is finally over. The last Akuma have fallen, not a trace of Noah is to be found. It's finished…Ah, for now, at least.

But the Exorcists have won a significant victory for the Order, and though they're all aching and tired and smarting from the various pains of war, a lingering tingle of adrenaline, a sense of elatedness is buzzing in their centers. Allen has just seen Lavi kiss both Lenalee and Kanda in the span of a few seconds- on the mouth- zealously- and can't help but think- what an incredibly good idea.

He finds Link in a medic's shelter downhill from where the bulk of the fighting had taken place. The inspector had involved himself in the battle even though he was no Exorcist, as he usually does, and had gotten himself injured, as he usually does. Allen leans against the shelter, watching with something that would be a smirk were it not softened by a few key emotions. A faceless medic is giving a stoic, silent Link directions about the care of his wound and orders to go easy for a while. Allen grins and quickly smothers the expression, interrupting.

"I'll make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble, ma'am," He beams at the woman as she rounds on him. Disarmed, her severe aura eases a bit and she smiles back, moving on to other patients.

Link glances at her back and glares at him from his seat on small cot. "Isn't that my job, Walker?"

Allen slinks further into the tent, favoring one leg, and lowers his body carefully to sit next to him. "Turnabout is fair play."

Link gives him a brief stare and rolls his eyes. "Mmhm." He gingerly presses a hand against the bandages crossing his chest, massaging a shoulder that had only moments ago been returned to its socket. He's moving that hand again, clearly intending to poke at the stain of blood that has already spread over his wrappings. Allen traps the wrist in his grip and gives him a scolding look.

Link is grimacing and looking away when the skin of the teenager's smooth, cool left hand catches his face. Allen presses a quick, but firm kiss to the other man's mouth. He draws a few short inches away, offering only a small, wavering smile as explanation. Link's lips part, his eyes widen minutely in surprise.

The endorphins in Allen's blood are singing and he really, _really _can't resist. Link hasn't started screaming at him yet- that can only mean good things- and- and-

He releases the man's wrist to hold his other cheek and pulls him down for a second touch, fully planning to steal the man's breath from him and keep it for himself. He needs it, he's breathless-

This kiss is more. One of Link's hands rises up to fist in dirty white hair, and his curved spine makes Allen bend and turn his face up. That delicious feeling is like a scream in his body, bubbling so he fights the urge to laugh. Link's teeth are in his bottom lip when Lavi blows into the shelter like a windstorm, Lenalee under one arm and Kanda's elbow in the other hand. He takes in the scene before him with admirable speed and tugs on the struggling swordsman's arm.

"See, Yuu? Totally natural!"


	26. Conspiracy! What's in it for Me?

**More Timothy. You learn more than his name this time. That's it.**

**F me if I know what that little twerp calls Allen T_T I think it was Onii-chan or something like that, but whatever.**

"Lemme get this straight." Timothy says, twirling the sleeve of his oversized uniform in a tight circle. The motions are too fast to come across as casual as the boy clearly wants them to, but he still pulls off a passing impression of a mafia don. Or a parody.

"Hell, the kid's even got a freaking enforcer," Lavi hisses into Kanda's ear, looking pointedly at Emilia, positioned like a leering buzzard at the boy's elbow.

The Japanese only grunts, not moving his eyes from Lenalee, who is their acting negotiator.

"You all want me to possess White-hair and make him kiss that two-dot guy?" Timothy snaps the sleeve to the side. "Why?"

Lenalee smiles winningly at him, and you can just see how she's already got him around her finger. "Because we want them to fall in love."

Kanda coughs into his fist as Lavi reddens and scratches his scalp beneath his headband. "Is that what we're doing?" He mumbles rhetorically.

Tim makes a long 'mmmm' noise, before looking over Lena's shoulder at the two men. His face is slowly split by a long, thin grin.

"What's in it for me?"


	27. Conspiracy? Well, Him Too

**No warnings.**

**No, not Voldy-shorts.**

"Allen Walker, I am not a _matchmaker_." Link spits the word like a curse. He never imagined he would have a conversation like this with the teenage Exorcist he was obliged to tail. But then again, there were a lot of things about Allen that he had not expected.

Said Exorcist is frowning at him and _almost _pouting- not quite, though. Link will know when he's pouting because at that moment a fire will light beneath his temper; he can't stand it for some reason.

"_Link!_ But look, we could _so_ do it! I bet it wouldn't even be that hard…"

The blonde man gives him a phony patient look. His eyes flicker off the teenager's face for a moment and he considers the source of their disagreement.

Allen is still talking. "…ou don't have to play an active role in anything, just don't rat me out to anyone. Particularly You-Know-Who."

Link's eyes move again, and there is certain brightness bouncing in them that a close few might recognize as humor. "Leverrier?"

The Exorcist huffs. "Well, him too."


	28. Conspiracy? I Condone It

**No warnings.**

**I'm not sure I used 'condone' and 'concur' correctly.**

She has to choke back laughter as her mind absorbs the meaning of the words.

_I thought this stuff only happened in _books!

Allen's cheeks are faintly pink, but he's smiling in a contented, happy way. She's not so sure the tiny blush was brought on by the request he just delivered to her. She looks over his shoulder to the inspector, her smile widening ever so much at the muddled look of bemusement and resignation bending his features.

"And you concur with this?"

He eyes her blearily. Following a deep sigh, he admits, "If anything, I condone it."


	29. Conspiracy! His Wall of Knowledge

**No warnings.**

**I wonder what school starting in two days is going to do to my udpate rate?**

Lenalee whispers it into his ear as she leaves a coffee cup on the table.

_"Tim is going to do it tonight in the library." _She says in a gust of warmth.

Lavi grins and curves his lips around a soundless _whoop_. He darts out an arm and catches her waist, hugging her close for a brief moment before letting go. Lenalee is flushing prettily and indulging in her own, more subdued grin as she walks off balancing her tray.

Lavi looks around the twin towers of books before him to immediately freeze under Bookman's heavily coaled and highly suspicious stare. He drops a well-used, I'm-not-up-to-anything-even-though-we-both-know-I-am smile, adding a few more teeth for good measure, and ducks once more behind his wall of knowledge.


	30. Dangerous Weather

**No warnings.**

***snorts* This actually started with _Ain't No Mountain High Enough_ (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell) popping up on my shuffle. **

Allen and Link are journeying through the mountains, closing in on a tiny town high up with each passing mile. A finder had contacted H.Q. with a possible case of Innocence pulling its usual baffling tricks. He relented coordinates and trails for whoever came to follow up on his information, but he didn't anticipate the stormy season of Mt. Yangoon.

The rains that make them wonder of the strength of their canvas tents swell the rivers and liberate them of their beds. The way is distinctly up-hill; rocks and roots made for good footholds until the excess water loosened the ground and churned it into a thick, soupy mud. Now they come loose from sometimes, and sometimes they do not. Hands are quick to dart for a faltering companion, and are slower to withdraw again with each momentary panic. The heat of the other's palm against each's own is a welcome comfort in such dreary and dangerous weather.


	31. Hmm

**No warnings.**

**I'm too lazy and sleepy to research what kind of thread they used in medical procedures in the 1900's, which is something I'd ordinarily do. Catgut I knew, but I think that's medieval =/ Though I doubt anyone cares, just wanted to say.**

Miranda has gone with Krory to the small town they had passed a few miles back, leaving behind assurances of their return before sunup.

Allen is sitting, his legs crossed, on the ground behind Link stitching a long wound on his scapula closed with what is left of their emergency catgut strings. The group had burned through their medical supplies with a worrying rapidity; at least there was still money to replenish their reserves.

The teenager feels the inspector flinch beneath his hands as he pushes the needle in. His encouragement rides out on a sigh. "I'm almost done."

Link is staring down at the ends of his hair for lack of a better distraction. Conversation, perhaps, will help there. He's opening his mouth to speak when-

Allen pulls the thread through faster and Link hisses. "You shouldn't have jumped in like. I don't know why you're always doing that…"

It's probably a reflex; but he doesn't say that. What he does say, "I don't plan it."

The Exorcist gives a little smile at that almost childish protest. A few minutes later he finishes his stitching, and pulls a shiny silver tin form his pack. Link sees the reflection the firelight sends off the metal and looks back, eyebrows tipping in. "I thought we were out of that," He says thoughtfully.

Allen flashes him a sneaky smile as he coats two fingertips in the white ointment inside the tin. "I saved some, just in case." He gives a nonchalant shrug as he sets the rest aside. "Miranda always uses a little too much."

Link tenses at the touch of the cold cream to his back. "Hmm,"


	32. What's Wrong?

**No warnings. AU, continues with what's been set up in ch.21**

**I have been dying to write something about someone in a school at night since this one time a friend and I lingered after the bell rang on Friday. We walked around for a bit, looking for this teacher, and she goes, "This is kind of creepy..." And we stop and look at each other and then take off running for the stairwell XDD**

Allen has never really given any though to ghost stories of tales of nightmare monster before. He's too rational of a thinker for that kind of nonsense to make him jump.

But, come on. A school at night is better than any other conceivable location when it comes to giving a person the creeps. A freshly emptied building fifteen minutes after the final Friday bell- in bright, all-consuming afternoon sunlight, no less- is enough to make a wandering teenager flinch when they hear the janitor wheeling his cart down the hall. Hell. Allen is rational-thinker, but right now, that amounts to a hill of beans.

He's thinking of long-bladed knives, of gleaming blood spraying over the walls, of mysterious noises from nowhere and that horror movie he saw last with Lenalee and her brother.

A shadow slides down the wall and Allen swears his hair is standing up as he stares at the corner, breath freezing in his chest.

It doesn't completely come back when senior Howard Link appears where the hallways join and gives him a confused look.

"What's wrong?"


	33. Soft Comforts

**No warnings.**

**Chapter title is incredibly misleading *shit-eating grin* Inspiried by Hands Around My Throat by Death in Vegas.**

The air is freezing, it's cold, and Allen's breaths are leaving his body in short puffs, drifting away as tiny unassuming clouds that disperse as they float.

Link's weight is heavy on his body, and the inspector's hands are no warmer than the frosted ground around his neck. Long fingers that he's paid too much attention to in the past few months are tightening, and the clouds are getting smaller. The man's face is blank as paper, and the whites of his eyes are a dull, unremarkable red like dried gore. His irises are bleached white.

"Link," Allen's voice grates against his throat; he's dredging up air from bottom of his lungs. The inspector only gives a slow, measured blink as his hands continue to tighten and the Exorcist fears for his wind-pipe. Will it be crushed?

He hears Lavi's voice and the distinct ring of Mugen. "Hold on, Allen!" The redhead cries urgently. A boom shakes the foundations of the cave as Lavi's hammer comes down on the third and final Akuma.

Link's body bucks as if a string of electricity has shot up his spine. He gasps and his eyes water as the coloring fades, and his own brown eyes are back. Allen smiles in relief and wraps his hands around the inspector's wrists.

The water that had welled up runs over as Link blinks again and stares down at Allen with bemusement.

"Link," The Exorcist gasps with rising desperation. His head rolls back and the darkness is rising in his vision.

"…oh. Oh! W-walker…" Link starts and releases his death grip. Allen's last glimpse of his eyes is of them wide and horrified before the blonde man's face is pressed against his neck.

"It's alright," He hugs him weakly as he smiles, rasping soft comforts to him.


	34. For Different Things

**No warnings. Pointlessness.**

***shrugs* Found it. Didn't want to throw it out.**

It comes out of nowhere.

The room is quiet. The window makes small squeaky noises as it swings minutely in the breeze. Timcanpy's wings are fluttering as he hovers over Allen's head, and they make a little noise too, but not much. Link has to strain to hear either of these disruptions. They are the only constants.

Occasionally, Allen makes noise. Sometimes he sighs and shuffles, sometimes he hums a broken beat for a second or two, before tapering off. One of his boots _thunks_ on the wood, and Link looks up from his paperwork. His eyes roll briefly over the teenager's body before returning to his log.

It is quiet, until Allen says, "You make funny faces."

Link stops, lowers his pen to the desk. He turns a puzzled expression onto the Exorcist. His brilliant reply: "Bwah?"

Allen's watching him over his shoulder.

"You do! You've got all these funny little scowls for different things."


	35. Twists His Heart

**No warnings. AU.**

**Written to Nobody Has to Stay by Mirah. Good song. Crummy title. The drabble's, I mean. (No I don't think Cross is really dead in canon).**

The chapel is dark and drafty. Long flames tipping burned down candles flicker occasionally, wildly, in breezes from an indeterminable source. The echoing sounds of the monotonous chorus and the organ behind them do nothing to help to mood, but Link isn't sure if that's entirely their fault. It is, after all, a funeral.

It had come to a shock to many when Allen Walker's foster father had been found with a bullet lodged snugly in his parietal lobe, the gun that had emitted it clasped loosely in slack fingers. Cross Marion seemed to have been planning his sudden departure though, his will having recently be changed, directing that his charge be placed in the care of long-time friend Komui Lee.

Allen Walker was seated in the first row. Link came up on him as he stared listlessly at the draped coffin long after everyone else had left. He struggles with his deadened tongue and words he wants and doesn't want to say for a moment, then gives up and drops what he hopes is a comforting hand on the teenager's shoulder.

Allen turns his head faintly in his direction, a silent acknowledgment, and Link gains the confidence to squeeze once before allowing the hand to slide from the other's shoulder.

"I'm…" He clears his throat awkwardly.

Allen's eyes narrow as his lips bend into a melancholy smile that twists the blonde man's heart.


	36. All the Way Down Here

**No warnings. AU.**

**Inspired by finding a few pages of a forgotten story and watching the movie Life Stinks :) It's set in a city(and universe) of my creation. The name of the city is Fluro, and the higher up you live, the better off you are. **

"Watch were you're walking, goldy." A voice from nowhere growled, and Link yelped as he was shoved roughly to the sighed.

A thin, dirty teenager with white hair like a beacon in this godforsaken pit appeared from the shadows, glaring. "You're standing in my house."

The older man blinked and looked down. "Um, I'm standing on a cardboard box."

The teenager gave him a look like he'd announced his hair was blonde in a moment of epic self-discovery.

"You're really new, aren't you." He grouched, sizing him up.

Link felt ill at ease in his warm coat and good blue jeans. His t-shirt was smudged in grimy handprints and he was sure his face was in a similar state, but…compared to the kid…Scrawny and bony, he was wearing threadbare army surplus and a moth-eaten blanket.

The kid delivered a sharp poke to his ribs. "Well?!"

"Y-yeah…I'm new here."

"Eh. Tell me something I don't know." The boy stepped onto the cardboard next to Link and looked up to the glittering towers of Fluro's higher levels. Then he looked back to Link and held out a hand. "M'name's Allen Walker."

He accepted the hand slowly. "I'm…Howard Link."

"Mm. So what are you doing all the way down here, Howard?"


	37. Until Tomorrow

**No warnings. AU because I'm not sure they have ceiling fans in dgm!time.**

**Written to the song Delicate by Damien Rice. I love it, the feel of it is just...incredibly lazy and loving, like, post-afterglow-afterglow in the afternoon *happy sigh***

Sunlight pours in from the windows.

The ceiling fan makes a dull, shifting noise with each lazy rotation, its weight moving back and forth.

Their legs are tangled together. Link's eyes are level with the teenager's collar bones, and he's staring at them for some…reason. The synapses in his brain mustn't be firing correctly; thoughts are slow, incomplete…

He…doesn't want to think…just wants to…lay…

Allen's eyes are closed. His face is unlined, a small happy, contented smile bending his mouth. His fingers are playing in puddles of Link's unbound hair.

Link turns his eyes back to the points of the bones before his face. The skin there is shiny with a faint sheen of sweat; both of their whole bodies are. The ceiling fan isn't doing too much good…

"I need to fix that," He breathes in a gush of air, licking his lips, looking at the extra shiny spot of skin he just licked.

Allen's chest rumbles softly against him as he hums inaudibly. His fingers snag on a tangle in Link's hair and he sighs blissfully.

"It can wait until tomorrow." He says.


	38. Band of Thieves: 5

**No warnings. AU.**

Allen and Link are out practicing again- or, that is, _Allen_ is practicing, Link is bystanding- in a rather nice park. Mothers and strollers. Kids with balloons and sticky fingers. Businessmen. Always Businessmen.

The air is crisp with the flavor of oncoming fall, and the leaves are changing colors beautifully but Link can't bring himself to appreciate these things. He is sitting, fuming, on a pack bench next to the rookie's chosen target- a European tourist who speaks only smatterings of English. She's wearing a thick strand of milky pearls and a designer day suit.

Cross's orders: "Show him a standard set up. Let him choose the lamb." So Link let him. And he went out with him, even if he was still boiling over their argument the night before.

The sight of Allen, happy and enjoying a new day, only made him angrier. Link engages the woman in a conversation in her native French, which she is obviously delighted to hear, and sees Allen's hand flash into motion. Without a break in his words, he thinks, _Uncle Marion will forgive me this _one_ time…_

And, with a gasp, he points and announces, in fluent French, _"Ma'am! Your purse- a thief!"_

He grins with uncharacteristic malice from beside the woman as Allen is hauled off by the police. He's _still_ trying to figure out what happened.

Poor rookie.


End file.
